New Year In Slovenia-Day One

Well this is my first travel blog, I have decided to break it down into smaller chunks, so here is day one in Slovenia.
How lucky was I to be able to spend the New Year in Slovenia, we had chosen it on a bit of a whim and after speaking to Aljaž Škorjanec from Strictly Come Dancing who is from there and highly recommended it.

We only booked it in late November and there would be 7 of us going, my wife (Barbara) and I (Phillip), my mother and Barbara’s sister, husband and family.

Barbara and I were a little nervous having made the recommendation to go to Slovenia as the party had grown from just the two of us to the seven with an age range from 16 to 80. Slovenia had big expectations put on it but boy did it live up to them and indeed exceed them.

We flew out from London Stansted Airport with EasyJet and to be fair the whole check-in and boarding process worked pretty well.  I was wearing a spinal brace and it was the first time I had been through an airport with it and so didn’t quite know what to expect but of course security had seen it many times before and knew exactly what to do.

And for the first time ever the flight actually took off at just before 7 am and soon the pilot was announcing that the flight would only take 1 hour and 45 minutes rather than the scheduled 2 hours.

And so before long we were over the Alps and descending into Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport with lovely clear blue sky.  Once on the ground the plane quickly taxied to the terminal and we were disembarking and heading into the terminal.

Given the choice I like being in the front seats, it gives you a head start getting through security and so on.  And again, to be fair the whole process of immigration and bag collection went very well, I was impressed.

It was just a short walk across the road at the front of the terminal to the Car Hire building.  We were getting two cars; we had gone for slightly bigger car than we would normally choose and had also gone for automatic with 4 wheel drive just in case the weather become snowy.  I ended up with a Skoda Kodiak and my brother in law got a Mercedes, we had both chosen Hertz for our cars.

The process was quick and we were soon loading up our cars, I had not driven a Skoda before but it looked like a nice car and I got used to the controls and set the Sat Nav to take us to Lake Bled which would be of first destination for two nights before heading to Ljubljana for another 2 nights and New Year.

Lake Bled was only a 30-minute drive from the Airport and we were soon checked into our Hotel, the Grand Hotel Toplice, which was at the side of the Lake and opposite the Castle.  My first action was to go onto the balcony and take in the view which was stunning.  We all did some quick unpacking before meeting up to do some exploring of Bled.

Bled is at the eastern end of the lake and has all the things you would expect, we headed to tourist information and picked up a few maps and guides which would be handy over the next few days.  There were some shops and we popped into a few, there was also a small Christmas Fair taking place which we explored as well.  The fair had a variety of gift stalls and food stalls, it looked and smelled great. 

After a walk around we looked for somewhere to go for a bite of lunch and we made our way to the Park Restaurant and Café, which had a great view over the lake.  Turns out it also had a great menu and we were all keen to sample some Slovenian food and there was lots to choose from.

I opted for Beef Soup which was like a consommé and came with beef and sliced pancake, with veg.  It was just what I needed and I everyone else enjoyed their choice.  We followed it up with cake and I went for the apple strudel which again was delicious.

We then took a boat over to Bled Island and the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Maria.  It is about a 20-minute trip to the island depending on where you board and most of the boats are rowed by an oarsman.  It is quite relaxing and a great way to see the lake although very cold in December, hats and gloves were quickly put on after boarding.

A steep flight of stairs leads you up from the jetty to the Church with great views in all directions across the lake.

The church is very pretty, and I was amazed at how ornate it was inside, there is a tower that can be climbed but I choose not to make the climb due to my back.

We explored the small island and after 40 minutes it was time to make our way back to our boat and head back to shore.  By now the sun was going down and the temperature was dropping, but the views were amazing, well worth the trip.

Once on shore we made our way back to the Grand Hotel Toplice to warm up and relax before dinner in the evening.

For supper we had booked a table at the Bled Castle Restaurant which is part of the castle opposite.  We drove to the castle and made our way up to the restaurant; it was quite a climb up a steep cobbled road; I was puffing by the time we got to the restaurant.

But it was so worth the effort, the restaurant and the food were fantastic, the service was very good and at times felt like theatre.  Our waiter was very knowledgeable and introduce each course, describing the food and wine.

Once again, we were all very pleased with our choices as we made our way back to the hotel and to bed after a long but very pleasing day in Slovenia.